“When it comes to love spells Y/N, you have to choose the right one.”

The sentence your Grandmother had given you months ago still haunted you, and further, had been very little help. You had hoped the veteran witch would be able to simply show you to an effective love potion or an easy enchantment that you could use and everything would be moving along.

You had met Jinyoung almost a year ago on campus and fell into an easy friendship that you treasured more than anything else. He had always been there to help you when you genuinely needed it, and scold you when you were just being lazy. He pulled out all your inner strengths and made you aware of them, and equally reproached your undesirable traits, training you quickly on what he didn’t appreciate. He was the type of person who just had this enigmatic approach to helping you achieve greatness within yourself. You had half expected him to be from warlock bloodlines with how quickly you had blossomed in a fine woman with his assistance.

But it was you who practised magic, something he had very little interest in, being more of the scientific type. He never knocked you for it however, and you appreciated this about Jinyoung, feeling accepted by someone who wasn’t your kind for the first time in what felt like, well forever.

So it made complete sense that with all this primping and attention on you, that you had in turn, fallen completely in love with Park Jinyoung.

Of course, you couldn’t tell him. It made you feel tongue-tied every time you attempted, and with all your fantasies of him confessing to you about how deeply he felt for you, the idea of reality being far from that frightened away any remaining efforts to try.

So like any good witch, you turned to what you knew. You had tried all the love spells you could find before talking to your Grandmother, using the spells that required very little from Jinyoung to be successful. A chant here when you went to bed or a bit of love juice in his coffee there, you had perused the juvenile spells for a little too long. You had hoped the woman who had raised you into the good practising witch you were, would have some better arsenal than you had found. Instead, she had laughed at your attempts, shaking her head and clasping your hands in hers.

“Why are you trying so hard? If he loved you, child, you would know about it already. I’ve found in all my years that it is far easier to make someone turn into a wart-ridden toad than it is for a love spell to work, and you and I both know it’s not worth making anyone green and slimy and becoming responsible for such a mess. A heart isn’t something you should ever mess with.”

And along with her final warning that you had to find the right spell, you had left empty-handed and frustrated that winning Jinyoung’s heart wasn’t working out for you at all.

You didn’t give up though, delving into thicker reams of old texts that housed just as much dust as they did spells, and you pushed your abilities to their limits with these bigger spells. You knew they were over your head but you had to try.

Every time you were in Jinyoung’s company it only grew more apparent that you couldn’t just be his friend anymore. You wanted to hold his hand, hug him tightly, breathe him in, and kiss those full lips of his. These thoughts alone were enough motivation to become cunning. A sneaky pluck of some hair when he fell asleep next to you on his bed in his dorm room and taking one of his old tees to burn as sacrifice had been your biggest attempts gone thankfully unnoticed.

And both had failed. You were left with the spell you hadn’t hoped to need, but it was your only lifeline left. After this, you would have to admit defeat, grow old without him at your side, and pretend to be happy for him when he married someone else.

The idea of not becoming Mrs Park depressed you more than you were willing to let on.

But with this spell, the talisman required something precious and hard to obtain. You had no idea how to go about it, nor did you feel comfortable stealing it. After all, Jinyoung would have to know he’s bleeding. It wasn’t like a hair strand that you could take from him quietly. Bleeding usually hurt, and harming him was almost unfathomable.

Almost.

For a couple of weeks, you deliberated it for some time. Would you feed him something that would give him indigestion so you could prick his finger to ease off his stomach pain? Perhaps you could convince him to donate blood with you and then freeze time momentarily to get a vial. It all seemed hopeless the more you considered it.

You were frazzled and trapped at a dead end, wishing that you had the confidence to just tell him yourself. It would sure save you from some of the crazy things you had tried to make him fall in love with you.

Because you were so involved in your quest to make Jinyoung fall in love with you, it made you distracted, reckless and exhausted.

You had gone to Jinyoung’s to study for an upcoming calculus exam, falling asleep on his shoulder only halfway through the revision. And of course, you had instantly fallen into a dreamland where Park Jinyoung was yours, living out all your fantasies within the realm of slumber. What you hadn’t anticipated as a twist in your dream was talking about the spell.

Nor did you expect to also mumble this out loud. For a very alert Jinyoung to overhear.

When you finally woke up it was early morning and you were under his blankets, nestled deeply into the divine smell of Jinyoung’s cologne and bedding. You tried to be quiet as you rolled about in the bed, biting at your bottom lip to maintain your delight.

Your eyes then attempted to find Jinyoung within his dorm room, following the dim lighting over to his desk. You blinked a couple times to remove the remaining sleep and allow your eyes to adjust to the lamp illuminating Jinyoung. You smiled lazily, taking in his side profile that was completely immersed in reading a very old and fat book that looked out of place against his other textbooks.

“Oh no,” you breathed, catching his attention.

Jinyoung’s head cocked to the side for a moment and he nodded. “Oh no, indeed.”

“How did you find that?” you questioned, sitting up slowly and feeling a huge sense of dread consume you. It was over now, that book contained only love spells. He’d have to know what you were up to.

“You mentioned it in your sleep to me,” he said matter of factly, flipping onto the next page.

Getting up, you moved across to his side and reached for the book. His hand was faster and he held the spellbook down onto the table. “Jinyoung, you shouldn’t be reading this.”

“And you should? These seem pretty intense.” He stared at you for an immeasurable time, scrutinising you completely. It made you feel raw, vulnerable, and pathetic.

You lowered your gaze to avoid his.

“I’m sorry if you just give me the book you won’t have to worry about it again.”

“Have you actually tried these?” he questioned, and your sudden silence answered him. He laughed to himself. “Y/N, some of these require things from me!”

“Like hair,” you agreed sadly. You hadn’t really thought about how he would view you for all of this until now. You had been a little preoccupied in actually getting him to love you after all.

“Or worse, there’s one here asking for my blood! Would you have gone that far?”

You coughed a little, beating at your chest as your lungs failed to support your breathing. He watched you with concern, his eyebrows inching up in realisation. “You need my blood?!”

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” you mumbled, sighing heavily. “Just give me the book Jinyoung and I’ll go home.”

“And do what; concoct more spells to make me fall in love with you? Unbelievable!”

You shook your head roughly, tears springing to your ducts at his statement. “I promise I’ll stop. It hasn’t worked so far, so it’s pointless to ask you to give me anything more.”

“You love me that much, huh?” His tone was soothing now, and you bit back your emotions as best as you could, not catching his gaze whilst repeatedly stretching for the book. He sighed heavily and out of your peripheral, you saw him slide the sleeve of his shirt up his forearm. “Just blood?”

“What?” you asked, snapping your attention to his face. His dark eyes regarded you for a moment and then he shook his head, muttering under his breath about how ridiculous this was. He then held out his arm to you. The gesture warmed your heart but also confused you greatly. “Why are you offering?”

“I want to see if it works, if you can make me fall in love with you with a mere spell.”

“But what if it really works?” you continued, feeling hesitant to accept his offer. “What will you do then?”

“Be madly in love with you, isn’t that obviously the goal here?” His expression was growing stale the longer you stalled. Groaning at your impossible state of mind right now, he reached for a pack of needles that you had left on his desk when you had been sewing buttons back onto his shirts for him and pricked the tip of his index finger. You gasped as the crimson liquid oozed out of the tiny wound. Jinyoung gestured for you to hurry up and you took a deep breath, pulling out the talisman you had created for this spell from your bag. Gently, you guided his finger onto the yellow paper and smeared the blood onto it, reaching over to grab the needle and pricked your own fingertip to mirror the sacrifice. Jinyoung on his finger to stem the flow and then reached for your own, copying the action and you froze.

Shaking yourself when he let go, you then leaned over his shoulder to read the lines you needed to utter. Placing your hand over the talisman, you found the confidence to say them with all your might. “Bind our blood as one, heart to heart, we shall become lovers at last.”

“Is that it?” he asked, glancing around you both as if he was waiting for something magical like lights to flash and announce the spell had been cast. You searched for less visible signs of success, eying the talisman to see if the ink would change colour. Nothing happened and you glanced gingerly at Jinyoung, jumping a little when you realised how close you had been to his side.

“Do you feel any different?”

“Hm, let me see. My fingertip is tingling, should it be?”

You deflated at his teasing. “Honestly Jinyoung, I knew I shouldn’t have listened to you just now, after all-”

You squeaked when his arms encircled your waist, drawing you in closer to him and making you take a seat in his lap. With wide eyes you slowly glanced at Jinyoung, feeling yourself fall captive in his gaze. One arm held you steady in his lap and the other lifted up to your lips, brushing his thumb gently over your lower lip.

“Are you sure the spell didn’t work?” he murmured, his eyes now on where his hand had just been. He moistened his lips and you felt your heart start to beat erratically. “You’re so freaking adorable, you know that? How long have you been trying to make me fall in love with you?”

“For several months now,” you admitted cautiously, trying not to fall any deeper into his gestures. You were melting with how soft he was being with you. He hadn’t ever held you like this before.

His lips curled up at your sentence, though he didn’t respond, soaking in your face instead. It flared hope within your chest that the spell had actually finally worked. Reaching for his face to test it, you cupped his cheek, Jinyoung watching you intently as he nuzzled into your hand. A smile crossed your lips.

“It’s worked.”

Jinyoung laughed. “No, it didn’t.”

“What?” Your eyes widened at his smirk, and your emotions rose up immediately. He had played with you. You went to move your hand away right as he turned his face to kiss your palm lightly, ceasing all movement. He kissed along your palm until he reached your wrist, delicately kissing the thin skin there and then shifted back. You were still frozen by his lips for a moment longer and finally, you thawed enough to react. “Don’t mess with me.”

“I know exactly why your little love spells haven’t worked, not a single one of them.”

You huffed in a deep breath, it was too early in the morning and you were far too worked up for one of his scientific rambles. As if he sensed your readying to depart, Jinyoung gripped at your waist and shook his head.

“I can’t do this right now Jinyoung. I think we’ve both had enough of all of this. I’ll just get on my way-”

“A spell can’t work on something that’s already naturally happened, right?” he cut in, brushing your hair away from your face. He smiled at you as he gently held your chin within his hand, directing your face so you stared at him. He waited expectedly.

“Why would someone use a spell if they already love them?” you replied, sighing again. “Jinyoung, I-”

“Exactly what I want to know. Why were you trying to make me fall in love with you, when I already am?”

His lips found yours then, soft and slow at first. You were far too stunned though, and Jinyoung knew he’d need to deepen the kiss to get you to join him, your eyes finally fluttering shut as you caressed his mouth with your own. The kiss turned hungry for only a moment before he pulled back, breathing a little heavily.

Your mind finally caught up with it all. Staring at him a little incredulously, you poked his chest with your finger. “You, you like me?”

“Why do you think I invested so much of my time with you? I was instantly attracted to you.”

“So all this time…?”

He nodded and smirked. “You were so blind to it that for awhile I thought you would only see me as your friend forever. But then when I caught wind of your love spell research, I started to find myself curious if it was more than one-sided.”

“Wait a minute, you knew?!”

“Of course I did, you might be a witch, but you’re not very good at hiding yourself, at least, not from me. You used my laptop to search up spells one time, honestly, how was I meant to be oblivious when you’re so open about it?!”

You pulled yourself away from him, shaking your head repeatedly. “You let me suffer all this time, completely desperate to find a way for you to love me and you already did?!”

“I wanted to see how far you were willing to go,” he replied nonchalant, getting up off the chair and approaching you with another smirk. “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting you to get this invested. I’m honoured; you must really love me, Y/N.”

“I cannot believe you Park Jinyoung!”

“And I’m not sure I trust you with all this magic either, but there is one thing I’m glad about.”

You stared at him apprehensively as he reached for you again, looking down at you with lust filling his eyes. You couldn’t help but feel flutters in your stomach from the intensity of his gaze.

“Your lips tasted as sweet as I hoped they would,” he finally concluded, kissing you again softly. You fell under his own spell, kissing him back and wrapping your arms around his waist. He pulled back only to kiss you a couple more times, before resting his forehead on yours.

You felt giddy.

“You love me,” you mentioned happily and he chuckled. “I don’t have to smite anyone for taking you from me after all.”

“Oh my god,” he uttered, shaking his head which made you giggle since he was still pressed against you. “I must be crazy to be in love with you, but I’d be even crazier without you. Just promise me one thing.”

You kissed his swollen lips briefly before grinning at him. “What?”

“No more spells, let’s just let our love grow naturally, okay?”